Another favourite book of my sister and I growing up were of Babar the elephant who lived with his tres charmant famille in Celesteville. On our first trip to Paris, my sister had a rather large stuffed toy of him which she took to the top of the Eiffel tower, just like in the story – needless to say it was the highlight of our trip and a very fond memory for both of us.
Here are some Babar facts:
With over 100 licensees worldwide, the Babar brand has a multi-generational following. There are even 12 dedicated Babar stores in Japan.
Babar has eight points to his crown.
A global cultural phenomenon, whose fans span generations, Babar stands along side Mickey as one of the most recognized children’s characters in the world.
Babar made his debut in “The Story of Babar” published in 1931 by Jean de Brunhoff. Jean created and illustrated seven Babar titles before dying in 1937. Laurent de Brunhoff, son of Jean, continues his father’s work and is still writing Babar books.
In 2006 Babar will celebrate being King of The Elephants for 75 years.
There are now over 30,000 Babar publications in over 17 languages, and over 8 million books have been sold. Laurent de Brunhoff’s Babar’s Yoga for Elephants is a top seller in the U.S with over 100,000 copies sold to date. The Babar series of books are recommended reading on First Lady Laura Bush’s national reading initiative list. Babar has been a perennial favorite for years at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
I spent quite a few years of my childhood in England, and one of my most cherished books from the time are the Topsy and Tim books by Jean and Gareth Adamson. I’m not sure of it was the simple, colourful illustrations or the storylines which were pretty ordinary but interesting at the same time. Whatever it was, its held its magic for the past 20-odd years as my old dog-eared copies are among my 4 year-old’s favourites.
Today most childrens books and indeed, toys, are based on the commercialised marketing of big names – like Thomas the Tank Engine, Barney, Barbie and so on. Yes, my kids love those two, but the magic of two ordinary kids undoubtedly have a special pull of their own.
The Topsy and Tim books were written by Cambridgeshire author Jean Adamson, and her late husband Gareth and first published in 1960.
Jean, now 74, believed that children created there own magic and that the decision to make them twins was so the boy and the girl could have “an equal place”.
“We don’t need magic because all the world is magic to children.
…Let’s do something for the modern world with real-life children’.”
As the series developed Gareth and Jean’s three children influenced and Jean would see how the children reacted to situations which were mirrored in the book.
“When we started we didn’t have any children and then we had our own three children in quick succession and the children almost wrote the books for us,” she said.
Since it was first published in 1960, more than 130 Topsy and Tim titles have been published with sales of over 21 million copies.
New editions was released in 2003, and although my daughter loves them just the same, I definitely miss the wonderful illustrations of the old editions.
